Commissioners elected to look out for county

My first published work was a short story called "The Unhappy Hippopotamus," which ran in my hometown paper when I was 8 years old.

As best I can recall, it was the poignant tale of a hippopotamus youth who was tired of being labeled overweight and asked his fairy godmother to change him. He woke the next day to find he was a skinny hippo — but instead of discovering happiness, he found himself being mocked for his new dimensions. He eventually figured out that he was better off being himself than trying to be someone else.

Profound, I know. Literarily, it's been downhill from there.

I mention this masterwork today because I see something of The Unhappy Hippopotamus in the Reform Slate of Lehigh County commissioners. Republicans Scott Ott, Vic Mazziotti and Lisa Scheller successfully sought seats on the board last year by collectively convincing voters that they would reform the county budgeting process to stop overspending.

What has struck me since they took office is that they aren't satisfied being county commissioners. They're trying to be senators and congresspeople, pontificating about the folly of sending state and federal money to Lehigh County — and even succeeding in one case in turning it down.

This unusual behavior most recently was on display last week as the commissioners discussed the annual distribution of federal Community Development Block Grant money, a program that originated with President Gerald Ford and had strong bipartisan support, which used to happen once in a while. Liberals liked the program's goal of addressing urban blight and helping low- and moderate-income people. Conservatives liked the way it allowed local communities to decide what projects were important to them, as opposed to top-down decisions from Washington.

The program hasn't been immune to criticism, nationally and locally, over some uses of the funding, but I can't recall an instance locally where anyone suggested giving the money back rather than distributing it to the local communities and service agencies that submitted projects.

Until the three Unhappy Commissioners.

"We have a crazy uncle inWashington, D.C., who sends us checks," said Mazziotti as he discussed the $1.14 million in grants last Wednesday, "but there isn't enough money in the bank to cover those checks." He questioned how important these projects really are to the communities. "You're telling me it's not a priority for you if you have to raise local dollars, it's a priority if you have federal dollars."

Ott suggested, "I just want us to make sure we realize every time something like this comes through our hands, we're the last line of defense for the taxpayer nationwide. Nowhere along the line does anybody say, No, I don't want to take that money from the next level of government …

"I think we need to find a way to exercise some restraint that the federal government seems incapable of exercising."

Scheller focused on the administrative costs of moving the money from Washington to Lehigh County, arguing that it would be much more efficient for the needy communities to raise the money themselves.

These arguments had the applicants sputtering, pointing out in some cases that the money will be used to comply with shifting federal mandates — for proper handicapped curb cuts, for example — and in others that local people pay federal taxes and ought to be able to share in some of the benefits of urban redevelopment funding. If the money isn't spent here, they pointed out, it just will go elsewhere.

Whitehall Mayor Ed Hozza, one of those officials at the meeting, told me Monday, "If you want to change the federal government, then obviously you run for Congress or Senate. As Lehigh County commissioner, you are to govern the county and do your best for residents of the county."

In Ott's defense, he has made no secret of his very conservative views, including his criticism of state and federal money passed through the county government when he was unsuccessfully running for county executive. I first encountered him as the featured speaker at a big tea party gathering in Bethlehem, and he's a popular conservative blogger. If you voted for him and his fellow slate members expecting moderation, you weren't paying attention.

Still, if we think the size, scope and ambitions of our federal government need a drastic reduction, we elect people like Pat Toomey to the Senate, not Scott Ott, Lisa Scheller and Vic Mazziotti to the county commissioners. If the commissioners reject CDGB funding for Lehigh County, the one impact it WON'T have is to reduce federal spending. That money just will be used to rebuild roadways, install curb cuts, upgrade housing and help people live independently in other urban communities.

And taxpayers in Lehigh County will help pay for it.

The final CDBG vote is scheduled for July 11. It would be nice if this story worked out the way mine did, and these Unhappy Commissioners could embrace the job to which they've been elected instead of trying to do another one.